Christmas is just around the corner and people start planning out their celebrations, presents and ways to have a great holiday time. For most people Christmas is a time of numerous parties and engagements. However, Christmas parties can all start to blend together after a while, so it’s a good idea to make yours stand out. Make your Christmas celebration a unique one with a few bright ideas.

1. Add some pillows

Grab some giant pillows in red, gold and green and toss them around the living room. Even if you have more guests than seating, people will be able to stay comfy by sitting on the pillows. Plenty of pillows will come in handy if you decide to have a movie marathon or a cozy chatting. Not only will they add a lot of coziness to the place, they can also serve as coffee tables. Floor pillows appear in various colors, fabrics and size, so you can easily choose something that suits best your party theme and interior.

2. Sparkling centerpiece

When you can’t untangle your twinkle lights, just shove them into a vase or a fishbowl and light them up. It will look like you did it on purpose. Of course, you could always put perfectly good lights into a vase, as well. It gives a unique effect, particularly if you dim the main lights. For a more vibrant and elegant centerpiece, try to wind twinkle lights over a decorative small tree. Light up the festive venue by placing twinkle lights all over the house. Apart from glass vases you can use mason jars, glass bottles of all sizes and shapes, mugs or wooden baskets.

3. Choose non-traditional colors

Instead of the usual, boring colors, why not decorate your home in purple or teal? Any color that isn’t normally associated with the holiday season will work, as long as you stick to that color throughout your home. If the color pattern doesn’t look festive, consider adding some golden or silver touches. If you strive for non-traditional colors, start with your Christmas tree. Replace your usual evergreen Christmas tree with a faux tree in bright colors like navy or cream. Or, you can use aluminum Christmas tree. Make your Christmas celebration utterly chic and haute with only black, white and golden colors.

4. Exchange gifts simply

Many Christmas parties require some kind of gift exchange. Since this can add a lot of extra stress for everyone involved, you can limit the gifts to one per person or just for children. It will reduce the shopping tension and save your budget greatly. Put everything under the tree and let guests draw names from a basket to give their gift to. Swaps can be made if the gift is obviously unsuitable. If you have a big company, skip expensive presents. Cute, cheap and hearty knick-knacks will be a perfect memento from your party. Fill the basket with lovely items and let your guests choose something at random.

5. Host a potluck

It can be tough to find the time and energy to turn out an amazing meal for everyone this time of year. Let your guests chip in by assigning each one a part of the meal to bring. If you expect a lot of people to come, it wouldn’t be so difficult for them to prepare something tasty. Moreover, it’s an opportunity for everyone to cook their specialty. Don’t dictate everything, just let them know if they’ll be bringing a side dish, dessert or salad. This way your traditional Christmas menu may vary a lot! You can take care of the main dish.

6. Offer a buffet style meal

Lacking room for a sit down meal with all your friends? Or, want to make this Christmas dinner different from the previous year? Why not use the table as a buffet and make sure there are plenty of finger foods that everyone can enjoy? Make sure you prepare a wide variety of food for all your guests to choose from. Buffet recipes are mostly quick, cheap and yet absolutely delicious. Having a buffet meal enables you to serve food for more people and also reduce stress of cooking.

7. Break out the board games

A holiday party doesn’t have to be all adult chitchat and sipping wine. Bring out the board games and let people choose what they want to play. Even if they break into smaller groups to enjoy the games, the party will be a big hit. Make sure you have something to offer for kids like Christmas Card Jigsaw Game or Pass the Babble. Monopoly, Scramble, Risk or Trivial Pursuit are great options to keep the attention of older people. When you finish with a holiday meal, settle comfortably on the pillows and spend some time playing board games.

8. Give a gift of food

While sharing a delicious meal with your friends and family, you shouldn’t forget about helpfulness and compassion. Even if you don’t have possibility to donate or volunteer on this day, consider giving the gift of food to those in need. Ask your guests to bring one can or box of food to the party. Set up a box near the door and have everyone drop something into it. The day after the party, you can take the box to the nearest food pantry so that your party will benefit those who don’t have enough to eat. You can also make homemade food gifts including savory cookies, cupcakes, marshmallows and many other sweets.

9. Make it pop with white

Everyone goes with the standard green and red color scheme for the holidays, so why not mix it up a bit? Choose red or green and surround it with plenty of white. A red plate on an all-white table will really stand out. When you use holiday colors as an accent, they will be noticed. How about a monochromatic white Christmas tree? Absolutely stunning and airy, white Christmas tree with bright red decorations will surely set a festive mood. Don’t overlook white string lights, white candles and snow-white tablecloths.

10. Set up a photo booth

Taking photos is an integral part of any celebration these days. Not only do you capture tons of precious moments, it’s also a great way to boost festive mood and make everyone laugh. Silly photos of the guests and the host would also be the perfect mementos from the Christmas party. Hang a holiday backdrop and put some buckets with fun props like mustaches on a stick or party hats near the backdrop. Take photos of everyone with their chosen props. You’ll have lots of silly pictures, but this is a great way to save the memories. For the best photos, wait until the first round of drinks has been consumed.